Scan barcode
literaryvii's review against another edition
5.0
Words can’t articulate how deeply I connected with this as someone who has BPD and bipolar… it was so hard to read because of how much I saw myself in both characters. I think I’ll carry this book with me always.
fienmascini's review against another edition
3.0
‘He thinks about time, which has only recently begun, or at least now feels different. He thinks: the Babylonians were wrong: time is made of her.’
diamantin4's review
2.0
The only reason I didn’t give it 1 star is because it wasn’t poorly written.
Personally, I read this as part of a reading club and that’s why I finished it, but if it had been up to me I wouldn’t have. The set up was interesting, two strangers meet and agree to have 6 conversations as a sort of social experiment; however, their intentions and motivations felt improvised rather than intended. Btw we never get the results of the experiment :/
The first half of the book was the set up and it was pretty slow. The conversations between the characters were just so pretentious in a cringe way. Aldo is supposed to be a genius, but often his conversations lacked intellect and there is no explanation. It is mostly tell and no show. We are told over and over that he is genius and awkward, and Regan is impulsive and wild. Like, we get it after the third time! Moreover, there wasn’t a motivation behind their actions, it was just happening and the characters went along with stuff for no reason.
There were no side characters, they didn’t get personalities or depth. Everyone was “bad” and that was their only character trait.
The talk on mental health… was rather confusing since it seems to say that therapy and medicine doesn’t work, that they take away your ✨sparkle✨ The author herself mentions that she has a mood disorder, goes to therapy and is medicated, but wanted to show how a person can go on their life w/o them… now while they might not work for everyone, still in the story there wasn’t a point where Regan was ok w/o therapy and medication… so?
Her reasoning was that she couldn’t paint while she was medicated, but she still didn’t paint while she wasn’t medicated. It pushes the idea of the tortured artist, which is a lie, artists produce more work when they are in the right mental space. In fact not having a good mental health affects the quality and quantity of art produced so again WHAT WAS THE REASON?
For the first halve of the book Regan and Aldo had a good chemistry, they’re the only ones capable of tolerating their overly pretentious conversations. It’s like that girl at a campfire who pulls out a ukelele or the film dude who plays Pink Floyd at the party. At the smoke sesh they’re like “we live in a floating rock” and think that’s nuanced or deep or something. But that was okay. Regan was REALLY funny. And then the second half was like I was reading completely different characters.
Regan was no longer funny, she was annoying, avoidant, invasive. Aldo was extremely passive and dispassionate. They had sex over and over to fix fights or avoid conversations. And it was like “as we were fucking we saw the stars and became the entire universe” like damn, no dick is that good. Anyways, it just felt like the buildup from the beginning was worthless. There was like ZERO reasoning to why they dated, or why they did the things they did. It was very superficial on both the characters and the plot and yet so long.
I wouldn’t recommend it, not as a romance, not as a novel, not as a conversation on mental health, not as a character growth story.
Personally, I read this as part of a reading club and that’s why I finished it, but if it had been up to me I wouldn’t have. The set up was interesting, two strangers meet and agree to have 6 conversations as a sort of social experiment; however, their intentions and motivations felt improvised rather than intended. Btw we never get the results of the experiment :/
The first half of the book was the set up and it was pretty slow. The conversations between the characters were just so pretentious in a cringe way. Aldo is supposed to be a genius, but often his conversations lacked intellect and there is no explanation. It is mostly tell and no show. We are told over and over that he is genius and awkward, and Regan is impulsive and wild. Like, we get it after the third time! Moreover, there wasn’t a motivation behind their actions, it was just happening and the characters went along with stuff for no reason.
There were no side characters, they didn’t get personalities or depth. Everyone was “bad” and that was their only character trait.
The talk on mental health… was rather confusing since it seems to say that therapy and medicine doesn’t work, that they take away your ✨sparkle✨ The author herself mentions that she has a mood disorder, goes to therapy and is medicated, but wanted to show how a person can go on their life w/o them… now while they might not work for everyone, still in the story there wasn’t a point where Regan was ok w/o therapy and medication… so?
Her reasoning was that she couldn’t paint while she was medicated, but she still didn’t paint while she wasn’t medicated. It pushes the idea of the tortured artist, which is a lie, artists produce more work when they are in the right mental space. In fact not having a good mental health affects the quality and quantity of art produced so again WHAT WAS THE REASON?
For the first halve of the book Regan and Aldo had a good chemistry, they’re the only ones capable of tolerating their overly pretentious conversations. It’s like that girl at a campfire who pulls out a ukelele or the film dude who plays Pink Floyd at the party. At the smoke sesh they’re like “we live in a floating rock” and think that’s nuanced or deep or something. But that was okay. Regan was REALLY funny. And then the second half was like I was reading completely different characters.
Regan was no longer funny, she was annoying, avoidant, invasive. Aldo was extremely passive and dispassionate. They had sex over and over to fix fights or avoid conversations. And it was like “as we were fucking we saw the stars and became the entire universe” like damn, no dick is that good. Anyways, it just felt like the buildup from the beginning was worthless. There was like ZERO reasoning to why they dated, or why they did the things they did. It was very superficial on both the characters and the plot and yet so long.
I wouldn’t recommend it, not as a romance, not as a novel, not as a conversation on mental health, not as a character growth story.
carinecee's review against another edition
4.0
The characters and their love... questionable. Regan's thought process.. troubling. The message this book implies or states out loud really.... dangerous tbh.
Still one fact remains.... I enjoyed reading every minute of these 2 weird self-important love birds and their UNhealthy relationship. Also Olivie Blake's PENNNN BEAUTIFUL!
Still one fact remains.... I enjoyed reading every minute of these 2 weird self-important love birds and their UNhealthy relationship. Also Olivie Blake's PENNNN BEAUTIFUL!
aishwarya_104's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
eyesofsonder's review against another edition
2.0
i don't know if me absolutely despising this book is because I'm sorta experiencing a reading slump or if it was just genuinely awful. I had such a hard time getting through this mess. i tried forcing myself through it but it was too excruciating, so i did what i promised myself id do more and it was to drop it.
allow me to explain myself.
1/ The pacing:
it was so slow and boring, which i don't usually mind in a book but because of how annoying the Characters were it was a problem.
2/ The characters:
this was what made the book so awful. the. god. awful. mcs.
Regan's mental health is clearly unwell. she needs help. literally.
it also doesn't help that she is insufferable.
(the scene of her imagining stabbing Aldo and her family? yikes.)
Aldo was also really fucking annoying and just ..weird.
and he clearly doesn't like regan as much as she likes him
parisiankid's review against another edition
5.0
"I love your brain even when I fear it."
Beautifully written, the narrative of this story takes you in strongly. The characters are well thought and unique, you can easily feel empathetic with how they feel even if they still feel so estranged to you. I would recommend it if you're looking to read how two unique and flawed individuals link to grow and learn from each other. It's fast paced because one of the characters makes it that way, but it's worth this fast ride.
Beautifully written, the narrative of this story takes you in strongly. The characters are well thought and unique, you can easily feel empathetic with how they feel even if they still feel so estranged to you. I would recommend it if you're looking to read how two unique and flawed individuals link to grow and learn from each other. It's fast paced because one of the characters makes it that way, but it's worth this fast ride.
frecklejuice's review against another edition
5.0
FINALLY, a “romance” book where 99% of it isn’t all about sex!
This book was beautiful and complex and deep and heartbreaking and a breath of fresh air.
I love how dynamic the author made both Aldo and Regan. I found myself relating so much to Aldo’s mind and his thought processes.
Regan triggered my PTSD from every sad love story I’ve read/ seen where one ends up dying so I appreciate the “happy” ending…however triumphant you think it may have been, that’s up to the reader.
Anyways, definitely going down as one of my favorites.
Thank you, Olivie!
This book was beautiful and complex and deep and heartbreaking and a breath of fresh air.
I love how dynamic the author made both Aldo and Regan. I found myself relating so much to Aldo’s mind and his thought processes.
Regan triggered my PTSD from every sad love story I’ve read/ seen where one ends up dying so I appreciate the “happy” ending…however triumphant you think it may have been, that’s up to the reader.
Anyways, definitely going down as one of my favorites.
Thank you, Olivie!